Distrust
by Silvia Moretti
Summary: Jack wants to trust people... so bad. And he's not the only one. Pitch Black and Jack Frost must work together - and for better or for worse, must help each other. Rated T because I'm not quite sure how bad things are going to get (and I'm a bit paranoid). Plus, I'm hoping for some angst! Plot ideas are more than welcome!
1. The Bennett Girl

**Heyyy... guess what. I know something yall don't know (if you know what song that's from, you get an internet cookie)! I. Just. Posted. A. New. Story! It's... well, it's right here. I had this thing on my iPod for awhile, but now... well, I copied it over. Long story short, I have a Rise of the Guardians fanfiction! So... lemme tell you right now that I don't own Rise of the Guardians. Oh. And do I have to say that every chapter?**

**Right. ANYWAY, here's Chapter One of Distrust! Reviews are like my lifeblood. So please review - even if it's criticism, I'll take it. *grins***

**-SM**

Chapter One: The Bennetts

"Wha...? JACK! GET DOWN 'ERE RIGHT NOW, FROSTBITE!"

A mischievous smile played at the corners of Jack's mouth as he flew from the Warren as fast as the Wind could carry him. Freezing all of Bunny's egg paint solid didn't sit well with the Guardian of Hope - even though there were still months to go until Easter came, and the abused paint wouldn't take long to thaw in the spring-like temperatures.

Bunny was probably going to pulverize him next time they met...

But his expression. Manny, it had been _priceless_. The way his furry face had contorted in anger, his whiskers quivering with rage... Ah, it was beautiful.

He was on his way up to North's workshop, where he'd be safe from Bunny's impeding mood swings, when he saw a billboard advertising a concert. It said something about a "Christmas Special," but Jack's attention was focused on a picture of a girl with familiar mouse-brown hair, and sparkling eyes that reminded Jack painfully of better days.

She reminded him of someone... but who? As he pondered that, Jack flew to the college gym it was being held at.

The windows were open in order to let cool air in the building, so the white-haired teen slipped through one of them and landed on one of the beams in the rafters of the gym, knowing no one would see him away. A hot, stuffy gym offering contemporary music was hardly a place for a kid. Still, he could only imagine the conversation between child and parents.

He raised his eyebrows multiple times as he heard the stuff they were singing about - although half the time they just talked to the beat of the music, calling it "rapping."

No one saw him.

After two horrendous hours, an announcer came onstage and said it was time for the Christmas Special, Chestnuts Roasting, by the New Horns.

The lead singer was the girl on the billboard - and she had an extraordinary voice for a fifteen year old. Paired with that, she seemed kind of mysterious - shy and bashful normally, but very outgoing when she sang - and when she did sing, she sang like music was everything.

That was the last performance.; and it left Jack in an awed state.

The crowds of people that had come to hear the young woman sing dispersed after a couple hours. The girl herself had patiently waited backstage for something - although what exactly, Jack wasn't sure of. All he knew was that she intrigued him.

A heck of a lot.

He was floating over the hundreds of folding chairs, feeling decidedly bad for whoever had to clean up the mess, when she came back out.

He sucked in his breath as she glanced at the mass of chairs, then up at the rafters where Jack was hovering. He grinned at her, and even waved, but her gaze passed right over him as if he wasn't there. The winter spirit couldn't fight the ripple of sadness that washed over him as her eyes missed him, even if she was already matured.

She sat down with a heavy sigh t the edge of the stage; Jack could practically feel the waves of loneliness and sadness emanating off her, which mirrored his own feelings.

She muttered something under her breath about "Gramps," and Jack assumed he heard her wrong, because he thought he heard his own name. But then she began to sing.

Jack wasn't sure what language it was, but it was beautiful. His eyes widened as he heard his name repeat in the song, which she sang in a mournful tone. For Jack, everything disappeared except the girl and her amazing voice, as she continued her sad rhyme.

After the song ended, she bit her lips and brought her knees to her chest, wrapped them in her arms, and buried her face in her knees.

Jack's eyes narrowed as he wondered what she had sung. He wet his lips, then flew down next to her. He landed and walked up to her quietly, clutching his shepherd's crook in a death grip, like it was his lifeline - which he supposed it was, seeing as how it was his only escape route if anything went wrong.

Heedless of the countless bad outcomes, he moved his arm to drape it over her shoulders comfortingly.

But before he could, she muttered, "Gramps... I'm so sorry. I stopped believing just like you said. And now you're gone..." Jack momentarily froze as she gulped and went on. "I am so, so sorry for calling you a fool, Gramps. I really do love you... And I wish I would have spent more time with you before... the accident."

She was outright crying now. Jack felt like an intruder, but the next words washed over him icily.

"I'm so sorry," she said in a broken voice, "for blaming Jack Frost. I..." she faltered for a moment, then took the plunge - even though she didn't know he was there. I know how much he meant to you, and... It was wrong of me to accuse him - it's not like it's his fault winter is so harsh..."

Jack let out a half-choked sob. Only one man had still believed in him as an adult. It was no wonder her brown hair and sparkling eyes looked familiar. She was talking about Jamie. Jamie Bennett, his first believer. The first mortal to see, touch, hear, and interact with Jack Frost.

He grew old; yet still never gave up his belief in the Guardians. It was something that young kids either looked up to in admiration, or something they looked down upon.

But now... dead?

No.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no!

Jamie... Jack knew he was old, but surely not _that_ old...

Right?

The girl, immediately after he sobbed, had shot to her feet and spun around. She looked at him - yes, _at_ him - and her eyes widened in shock.

"Jack... Frost?" She spluttered.

Only one thing to do... Jack gave her a crooked smile and bowed, dramatically holding his right arm out - the one with his staff. "At your service, Miss Bennett."

She gasped and turned away from him. "You..." she whispered. "You heard all that?"

Jack smiled, a touch ruefully. "Even the song."

"Rhyme," she corrected distractedly. "But... why are you here?" Her voice turned bitter. "Don't you have, like, snow days to spread, and blizzards to create? Shouldn't you be turning winter into the harsh, dangerously beautiful season that it is? Killing innocent people and leaving them to lay there, frozen solid?"

Her words were like a punch in the gut for Jack.

"I was actually here to get away from everything and enjoy myself," he said, trying to justify himself and block out the images his mind was making. "I was with the Easter Bunny... Uh, helping him paint the eggs for Easter. I was the billboard advertising this concert thingy, and decided to try it out." He spread his arms out in a and-here-you-have-it gesture.

"Go away," she said, waving him off with her hands. "Just leave me alone, Jack Frost. You killed my grandpa, and with my luck I'll probably be next."

"What?!" Jack cried. "I didn't kill anyone!" She cocked an angry eyebrow at him, knowing that the words rang false in his ears, too. "Not on purpose, at least," Jack added, some of his previous anger fading.

"Sure," she said sarcastically. "The all-powerful Spirit of Winter didn't send the cold weather our way, and _definitely_ didn't didn't create the snow and ice everywhere."

Jack frowned. "Well, it's hardly my fault Jamie slipped. And, even if he did, he;d kill me for blaming myself.' Jack smiled ruefully, remembering all the fun times he used to have in the snow with Jamie and Sophie. "Jamie loved the snow... I still remember the snowball fights we'd have with the neighbor kids. They were great..."

She looked at him carefully. "How do you know his name? I never mentioned it."

Jack blinked.

"Jamie - your grandfather - was my first Believer." Seeing her blank expression, Jack started telling her about the Guardians; how they could only be seen by kids who Believed in them, how it was their job to protect all the kids on the planet, and fill them with Wonder, Dreams, Hope, Memories, and, Jack's specialty, Fun.

Soon he was talking about Pitch Black, and telling her about the horrible battle between the Boogeyman and the Guardians.

"No way!" she laughed, as he talked about North. "Santa Claus is Russian?"

"Yep."

"And the yetis make the toys." She shook her head in mock disbelief.

"Yep."

"I can't believe it..." she muttered jokingly. "It's like everything I knew and grew up with... was lies!"

Jack grinned at her. "Yep," he said happily.

"You're horrible," she laughed.

"Absolutely terrible."

They sat in a friendly silence for awhile, each waiting for the other to speak first. It'd be a gross understatement to say the young woman was startled when friend came up behind them and tapped her shoulder lightly.

The friend hadn't meant to scare her, but she was so deep in thought that she screamed - causing Jack to dart out of his sitting position and into a battle stance - and she jumped up, spinning around to face her fellow band member.

"Julie!" she cried, flinging a hand over her racing heart. "You scared me!

"No kidding," Julia muttered under her breath. "You okay, hun?"

"I'm... fine," she said, casting a sideways glance at Jack. "I am now, at least."

Julie paused. For a moment, she thought she had felt a cold breeze against her neck. It almost felt like breath. Then she discarded the notion with a shiver and said, "Good thing. Joey said we're hitting the road in a couple hours, so we should probably go pack. C'mon, honey."

"Thanks, Jack," was the last thing the other girl whispered before allowing Julia to pull her away from the seemingly empty gym.

"You're welcome..."


	2. Nightmare

**Finally! It's done! Thank _goodness _in heaven for that. I got some writers block - but it was weird. Usually I blank on ideas, but this time I was a fountin of ideas - i just couldn't put anything into words, if you know what I mean. I've got a bit of a head start on chapter three, so yay! Oh, and a couple things. Plot ideas are very, very welcome, because I only have a few vague ones. I'll try to incorporate them, just know that I don't ship Jack with... well, with anyone, really. And I'm sorry, I have to apologize. These chapters are sooooo short! But, anyway, enough blabbering. *grins* Here's chapter two!**

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Rise of the Guardians. Sorry. Call back later, maybe.**

**-SM**

Chapter Two: The Nightmare

Idiot. He was _such_ an idiot!

Thoughts like this were swarming Jack's mind as he flew to North's workshop. Why didn't he catch her name? All he knew was that she was a Bennett.

And a pretty good looking one at that.

Angrily, Jack shook the thought out of his head. He was the immortal, all-powerful Jack Frost. Not a sucker for love stories and happy endings. He knew people died; that was a reality of life.

But Jamie...

Technically, the girl was right. Jamie's death _was_ his fault. If he'd been more careful, spent more time with Jamie... if only he'd known! But now Jamie was dead, and if it hadn't been for Jack, he'd be alive and kicking.

Wait a second.

Jack jerked to a stop as the lights of Burgess came into view. "What the," he murmured. "Wind, really?"

Even though it couldn't talk back, Jack had spent a lot of his 300 years of solitude talking to the Wind.

Who was he kidding? He still did often.

Gently the Wind set him down on his frozen lake. Jack stared at it, the scene of his death and thought's of Jamie's raging through his mind.

What would Sophie say?

She had let go of her beliefs long ago, when she was just eleven. Peer pressure had gotten to her early. Jack could still remember how heartbroken he'd been when Sophie walked through him the first time - then the second time, and the third time. He kept trying for a least a year, but the only thing it did was shatter his split heart further.

He felt the familiar pain as he thought about the tea parties they had, the dress-up games... The mischievous grins he'd share with Jamie as they snick away from her, hoping to escape her wrath. But for Sophie, Jack had never been there. He had been a figment of their extraordinary imaginations.

Now she was seventy, married to the neighbor boy, Scott Mundy, with five kids of her own - none of which still believed. Heaving a sigh, Jack flew to the top of a tree, the thin branches swaying madly in the breeze. "'Night, Wind," he whispered quietly.

.

..

.

Jack's sleep was troubled, to say the least.

He dreamt of his death - the tons of freezing water all cascading around him, his little sister's agonized scream of "JAAAACK!" And then... Darkness. Not the kind of darkness you feel emanating off Pitch Black, but the kind that fills a quiet night. Snow fell in a forest lightly as the Wind pushed them around, making beautiful swirling patterns.

It was all sort of peaceful until the scream ripped through the air. Jack immediately rocketed toward the sound, his mind filling with unspoken anxiousness and worry. He knew that scream. It was the scram of a little girl grown up who didn't get what she wanted. Jack arrived in time to see Jamie's dead body, cradled in Sophie's arms.

Jack tried to call out to her, but his voice had abandoned him. He instead walked over to the seventy year old Sophie and tried to push a stray lock of hair out of her face. His hand ghosted through her, causing unshed tears to spring to his eyes. His breath hitched as he reached down to caress Jamie's cheek...

...and went through him.

Shock coursed through his body. Jack clenched his eyes shut and gripped his eyes shut and gripped his staff tightly, finally allowing sobs to rack his body and violently shake his shoulders. Then darkness overtook everything once more.

He awoke with tears coursing down his cheeks, but freezing on his cold skin before they reached his chin. Pulling up a facade of anger, Jack wiped away the frozen drops of water.

"This is so stupid," he muttered angrily, his fists clenched into tight balls. "C'mon, Wind." He leapt off the tree, allowing the Wind to cradle him for a moment, but then he shot off in the dark for Antarctica.

It was almost comical, he thought sardonically, how the very thing he had been running away from the past 300 years, had become his only safe haven.

Being alone.

.

..

.

Pitch Black was in his lair, brainstorming ideas to take control over his Nightmares again. The Guardians had defeated him, yes, but now his beautiful Nightmares were running around, causing havoc everywhere. They avoided the Sandman for obvious reasons, but still attacked the other Guardians - especially Frost - if given the chance.

It was enough to get Pitch pacing again.

After being taken out by the Guardians - including the most infamous Jack Frost - he had wallowed in his lair, bemoaning the fact that he was stuck back where it all started - weak and alone, hiding beneath a bed. Now he realized how foolish that was. He should have been scheming, planning his revenge and glorious comeback. So he had slowly started to taming them whenever he had the power to.

He couldn't utterly control them, not yet. He was still working on that. But they always came back to him after a long night's work. So it was a huge surprise when a Nightmare came back halfway through the night, prancing around like a beheaded chicken.

"What the heck is wrong with you?" Pitch said aloud, to no one in particular. The mare simply paused, looked at him , pawed the ground, and started pushing him toward the exit of his lair. Rolling his golden eyes, Pitch followed the rapturous Nightmare.

Pitch soon realized where the Nightmare was headed. It taking him to the lake right next to Burgess - Jack Frost's lake. Pitch slowed down, but the Nightmare sped up and vaulted onto the smooth, glassy surface of the frozen lake. Pitch silently emerged into the clearing and saw a sight he'd never seen before.

Fear was in the air - particularly around the tree that Frost in. Pain was written blatantly all over the young Guardian's face as he slept. Pitch winced as the annoying winter spirit whimpered and mumbled something aloud, his hands automatically tightening on his staff. Pitch turned his eyes away from the sight of the tough hellion, reduced to... this.

"Did you do this?" He asked his Nightmare. She bobbed her head proudly and horse-waltzed over to Jack, looking ready to give him a bad night's sleep. There were, after all, a few more hours till dawn.

Pitch looked at Jack with pity - the sprite looked like he was about to fall out of the tree, for Manny's sake! Pitch called the Nightmare back, away from the sleeping figure.

But then Jack wasn't asleep anymore. Pitch's eyes widened and he stepped into the treeline as Jack wiped away a few frozen tears, muttered something, and flew off. Pitch looked after him, making a split second decision.

And so he chased Jack Frost.


End file.
